Chapter 5
CHAPTER FIVE
Promise Springs was named by a group of farmers from Minnesota whose main example of a river was the mighty Mississippi.
When they first laid eyes on the narrow ribbon of water winding its way through the land they’d bought, they just assumed it was a spring-fed stream, not a tributary of the Brazos River.
Besides, Promise Springs had a much better ring to it than Promise River. And they saw their new home as the Promised Land and set about turning Promise Springs into their dream town.
It was a dreamy little town.
In the center of the square was the golden domed town hall, surrounded by lush green lawns and hundred-year-old oak trees. On the streets surrounding the town hall were quaint shops and businesses:
Grounds For Divorce, the town’s coffee shop, was run by the A-Sisters. Ada, Adele, and Arlene might have more divorces between them than the entire town put together, but that didn’t stop them from matchmaking.
Two Lips, the flower shop, was run by Charlene Slater.
Charlene had been born Charles Michael, but after college he transitioned and became Charlene Michelle.
It had taken the townsfolk awhile to get used to the high school defensive football tackle becoming the florist who arranged their Thanksgiving centerpieces while wearing size fourteen high heels.
But now, few people remembered yelling, “Crush ‘em, Charlie!” every Friday night at the football games.
Sloppy Joe’s was the only restaurant in town. It was open for lunch and dinner six days a week, but only if you got there before seven o’clock when Joe’s wife Amy Ann locked the doors and then mad-dogged people still eating until they finished up and paid their bill.
There were other businesses as well. Hair Raisin’ Salon and Day Spa, the Promised Treasures Gift Shop, and the Promise Springs post office, pharmacy, mercantile, and hardware store.
And Tully loved them all. Sloppy Joe’s sloppy joes and chocolate-dipped ice cream cones, Grounds For Divorce’s caramel lattes and cinnamon sugar mini donuts, and Charlene’s pretty outside carts filled daily with fresh flowers.
But her absolute favorite shop on the town square was the bookstore, Time To Read. Not only because she loved to read, but also because the bookstore was the one place in town she didn’t feel like everyone was watching and judging her.
Otis Hastings, the owner of the bookstore, didn’t like people as much as he liked books and rarely interacted with his customers.
Since Promise Springs got very few tourists and the townsfolk knew where all their favorite books were located on the shelves, there was no need for him too.
If customers found something they liked, they rang it up on the old cash register and left the money in the drawer.
Otis only interacted if people were talking too loudly or brought food or drink into his store.
Then you’d get a royal lecture about the sanctity of a bookstore.
The store with its towering, overstuffed bookshelves was like a holy cathedral. A reverent chapel where you could find comfort and solitude.
And today, Tully needed comfort and solitude.
Since her run in with Jaxon Hennessy at Birdie’s, she’d felt like a sailor who had just stepped off a ship after six months at sea.
Wobbly and off-kilter. Like the ground beneath her feet was constantly shifting, even though she knew it wasn’t.
She couldn’t focus on anything, including her daily routines.
Yesterday morning, she had completely forgotten to feed Dumplin’ her Fancy Feast. When she got home from work, one ticked-off pussycat was waiting at the door to greet her.
Even her daddy noticed something was off.
Probably because she had been clumsier than usual.
In the last week, she’d knocked over her cup of coffee three times, kept tripping over the potted plant sitting in the reception area, and, just that morning, she’d walked into the glass partition separating her office space from her daddy’s—resulting in a bloody nose and her daddy insisting she take the rest of the afternoon off.
And maybe a little free time was all she needed.
Maybe her emotional turmoil had nothing to do with Jaxon Hennessy.
She had been working overtime trying to prove to her daddy and the folks of Promise Springs she could handle the job of deputy.
Maybe she just needed to forget about work for a while and relax.
The best way to put thoughts of work behind her was to get lost in a book in a peaceful bookstore where no one would bother her.
She pulled open the door of Time To Read and stopped short when she saw a woman she didn’t recognize standing at the counter muttering loudly to herself.
She looked like Malibu Barbie. She was tall and slim with white-blond hair that fell around her tanned shoulders like a river of soft waves .
. . the complete opposite of Tully’s corkscrew curly hair that she spent hours straightening every day.
She wore all pink. Like all pink. From the glittery gloss coating her frowning lips to the cute high-heeled sandals strapped to her perfectly pedicured feet.
“Come on, Magnolia, you dimwit,” the woman said as she punched the keys of the old cash register with a pink glitter pen like Tully had used in third grade to write in her diary. “You can figure this out.”
The name Magnolia had Tully staring at the woman’s beautiful features. “Magnolia? Magnolia Hastings?”
The woman startled and dropped the pen before her familiar green eyes landed on Tully and widened. “Tulls!” She rushed over and pulled Tully into a tight hug. She drew back and flashed a set of white, even teeth that would rival any toothpaste model’s.
Tully was struck speechless. The Magnolia she remembered hadn’t had straight even teeth.
Or long hair. And she would have never been caught dead in a pink sundress and cute sandals.
She’d been a tomboy with a pixie cut and crooked front teeth who loved wearing the same ragged jean shorts, faded T-shirts, and tattered sneakers every day.
Of course, she’d only been in second grade the last time Tully had seen her. Still, the change was shocking.
“Maggie?”
Magnolia laughed. Thankfully, the full, open mouthed, robust laugh was still the same.
“I guess I look a lot different, huh?” She released Tully and stepped back.
“But so do you. You’re gorgeous. Simply gorgeous.
And a sheriff’s deputy!” Her green eyes twinkled.
“Who would have thought one of the Nutty Buddy Thieves would become a deputy?”
Tully felt her cheeks heat and quickly changed the subject. “So how have you been?”
“Fantastic! I love Santa Barbara. Just love it. I mean who wouldn’t love living in sunny California?”
Tully didn’t know how to answer the question.
Especially when she remembered how hard Magnolia had cried when she’d told her about her daddy accepting a job at a university and moving them there.
It had been right after Magnolia’s mama had passed away.
Tully’s heart had broken for her friend who had lost her mama, and then had to move away from everything and everyone she knew.
But it looked like things had worked out.
Magnolia waved a pink-manicured hand. “I mean the beach, the fashion, the hot guys. It’s just . . . heaven.”
“So you came back for a visit?” Tully asked.
“Actually, I’m taking over for Uncle Otis while he recuperates from his double knee-replacement.”
Tully had completely forgotten about Otis’s surgery. She felt bad that she hadn’t called to check on him. “I hope Otis’s surgery went well.”
“According to my daddy, who’s at the hospital in Dallas with him as we speak, everything went just fine and dandy.
But it will still be a while before he can climb up and down ladders to replace books.
After the doctor releases him to fly, he’s heading to California with my daddy until the end of August.”
That was five months away.
“Wow. That’s a long recuperation time.”
Magnolia shrugged. “My daddy pushed for it. He thought Otis needed time away from the store and I needed . . . a job.” She smiled weakly.
“I’m still trying to figure out my calling.
But it looks like you found yours. So you’re the town deputy, huh?
I guess I can’t talk you into stealing ice cream again.
” When Tully didn’t laugh, Magnolia swatted her arm.
“I’m just teasing you.” She paused and leaned closer.
“Unless you’re looking to get into a little trouble.
Friendship oaths of secrecy never run out. ”
Tully had forgotten all about the oath of secrecy they’d taken. An oath they’d sealed with spitting on the sidewalk and a pinkie hug.
But things were different now. After Magnolia moved away, Tully had given up secrets and become a strict rule-follower.
If any of her friends broke a rule, Tully was there to point it out .
. . and tell on them. Which meant Magnolia had been her last and only friend.
Because who wanted to hang out with an annoying Little Miss Goody Two Shoes who tattled to her sheriff daddy?
Sadly, things hadn’t changed. It was now her job to keep people from breaking the rules. If Magnolia was still a troublemaker, it would be best if Tully didn’t rekindle their friendship.
“I don’t really have much time for trouble. I just started my job and I’m pretty busy. So . . .”
If Magnolia’s fading smile was any indication, she got the message.
“Ahh . . . well, then I guess I’ll see you around.”
Feeling badly for how she’d cut her childhood friend off, Tully started to apologize, but Magnolia was already heading back to the counter. “You wouldn’t know how to open this old thing, would you?”
Tully followed her and shoved in the drawer of the cash register before thumping twice on the side. The drawer sprang open.
Magnolia laughed. “Of course. I completely forgot the two thumps. It’s funny how quickly you forget.
” She hesitated for a long moment before she snapped out of whatever thoughts had overtaken her mind.
“So what are you looking for today? A self-help book? A good mystery? An intriguing biography?” She winked.
“A steamy romance? I just put a display rack up of a new release that made my panties catch fire from just looking at the cover.”
Before Tully could say she wasn’t interested in catching her panties on fire, the phone rang and Magnolia quickly answered.
“Time To Read. How can I help you? . . . Oh, hey, Uncle Otis . . . yes, everything is going great.” She rolled her eyes at Tully. “No, I haven’t painted the bookstore pink. How are you doing?”
Since it looked like Magnolia might be a while, Tully decided to give her some privacy and headed to the spiral staircase at the back of the store.
The staircase was a beautiful piece of craftsmanship made by Otis’s great-great grandfather who had been a clockmaker, along with all of Otis’s ancestors.
Much to his family’s disappointment, Otis had enjoyed reading more than making clocks and had turned the family clock business into a bookstore.
Although there were still plenty of clocks.
They hung on the walls and were tucked on shelves in between all the books.
Every hour and half hour, the entire bookshop would be filled with a cacophony of chimes, gongs, and cuckoo chirps.
Some people in town thought it annoying.
Tully found it endearing.
Just another lovable quirk of the bookshop. As were all the hidden nooks and crannies to cozy up in with a book.
Placed amid the shelves were overstuffed chairs and antique loveseats. Needlepoint rockers and piles of large, cushiony pillows. Brightly painted Adirondack lawn chairs and big puffy beanbags.
Tully’s favorite reading spot was on the second level.
She has spent many enjoyable hours cuddled up on the floral cushions of the window seat, reading and looking out on her beloved town.
She loved non-fiction more than fiction books.
Today, she planned on looking for a book she’d seen online about the history of country music and dancehalls.
But before she could reach the history section, she ran into the display rack Magnolia had been talking about.
She was right.
The cover was a panty torcher.
Tully glanced around before she picked up the book and read the back blurb.
It sounded steamy. Really steamy.
She looked around once again before she tucked the book to her chest and headed through the overfilled shelves to the window seat.
But as it turned out, someone had already claimed her favorite spot.